Myron of Eleutherae, Discobolus (Discus Thrower), Roman marble copy of an ancient Greek bronze, c. 450  B.C.E. (Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome)

Speakers: Dr. Beth Harris & Dr. Steven Zucker

"Myron is the first sculptor who appears to have enlarged the scope of realism, having more rhythms [rhythmos] in his art than Polykleitos and being more careful in his proportions [symmetria]. Yet he himself so far as surface configuration goes attained great finish, but he does not seem to have given expression to the feelings of the mind,..." (Livy, Natural History 33-35)

This particular copy is sometimes known as the Lancelotti Discobolus. It was unearthed on the Esquilline Hill in Rome in 1871. In 1938 it as was purchased by Nazi Germany and Hitler presented it to the Glyptothek in Munich as a gift to the German People. The Americans returned it to Italy in 1948. It is thought to have been executed during the reign of Antoninus Pius in 2nd century C.E.